Vince Russo – Professional wrestling’s greatest villain

We’ve probably had friends who mocked us for watching professional wrestling, calling it ‘fake’ and ‘stupid’. There must have been times when we had failed to come up with a perfect answer as to why we love something that isn’t seen as a sport, but as two people in their tights rolling on the mat. Although this isn’t how the fans look at the industry; but imagine such people existing in the business.

Furthermore, imagine people who openly criticise professional wrestling, and look at it as just an alternative for Hollywood. When promoters and writers were busy perfecting something that was the love and livelihood of every performer/wrestler involved, there was a guy who owned a video store in Long Island who didn’t know the nuances of professional wrestling, dreaming about being a part of the “entertainment” aspect of the industry.

There are many people who hate the very existence of Vince Russo. From the promoters to writers to the wrestlers, many couldn’t stand the presence of a guy who has admitted on more than one occasion that professional wrestling was “stupid”. Russo has said time and again that he couldn’t understand why people would want to see two technical wrestlers instead of angles and characters. Russo couldn’t think of a reason why professional wrestling would involve “wrestlers”, but entertainers. Russo was everything the old school wrestlers/promoters hated, and was everything professional wrestling didn’t need. Vince Russo is arguably professional wrestling’s greatest villain.

When Russo was hired by the then WWF, he convinced the powers that be, including Vince McMahon, that he could contribute to the show. With Russo throwing his ideas right out of a Sci – Fi movie, Vince McMahon filtered the good and the bad, and this led to the period of Attitude Era in the WWF. Russo believed in his own fallacies, and later bailed on Vince McMahon and joined WCW for a more lucrative contract.

With the good that came out from Russo, the edgier, controversial product he started in the WWF led to many atrocious angles. The “crash TV” product Vince Russo created along with Vince McMahon led to the critics describing him as someone who would take the ideas from a Sci – Fi flick and weave it into professional wrestling. Characters like Beaver Cleavage (Ugh!) were the product of Russo’s brain, and soon, the orthodox bookers turned on Russo.

With Russo going to WCW, the management believed that Russo would help WCW in beating the WWF once again in the ratings. What followed was a complete embarrassment of one of the greatest wrestling promotions in the history of the industry. With no Vince McMahon present to filter the 98% of the bad ideas of Russo, he ran the company into the ground. Russo’s “wrestling is stupid” argument led to the show being more angle/segment driven, and focused on backstage incidents rather than the in-ring competition. The matches got shorter and shorter, and the “something-on-a-pole” matches were hurting the product and the company. It got worse with Russo trying to include worked shoots and breaking kayfabe in the company, which were received poorly by the fans.

In the midst of his second run in WCW, Russo had finally done what the fans were afraid of. Along with the likes of Hogan and Nash, Russo destroyed what was good about WCW. While the fans and promoters were asking for Russo’s head, Russo made himself an on-screen character and won the World Heavyweight championship. The “crash TV” practice in WCW backfired, and WCW was dying quickly. Rumours started floating around that Vince McMahon was on the verge of buying his competition, and Russo managed to fool the higher ups once again, getting out of the company while still getting paid.

In the history of professional wrestling, there have been many people who were hell bent on destroying what the passionate fans loved, but the biggest of them all was Vince Russo. Russo’s hatred for professional wrestling and wanting to make it into a circus has destroyed a company that the fans loved. Most of his tenure in the TNA was filled with “Fire Russo” chants; the biggest fault of professional wrestling was providing roof to a guy who hated the very essence of the business. Even though there were/are individuals who came into the business purely for making money, Russo was a notch above the rest. With Russo getting fired from TNA, one can only hope that no organization will ever make the mistake of hiring the man who is hated the most in this business, and for a good reason.